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The second day of the ongoing Malaysia Open 2022 was a bit better for India as compared to the first day as ace shuttler PV Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap won their respective first-round matches. While Sindhu beat Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong, Kashyap outperformed Korea's Heo Kwang Hee to progress to the next round of the Super 750 tournament.
Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, continued to struggle as she was ousted by American shuttler Iris Wang, ranked 33rd in the world in 37 minutes. Nehwal could not trouble the American much as she went down in straight games of 11-21 17-21. With this loss, the 32-year-old was knocked out of the tournament.
Meanwhile, the mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponappa and B Sumeeth Reddy, who will be leading India's charge at the Commonwealth Games, couldn't get past the world number 21 pairing of Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek of the Netherlands. The Indian duo lost 15-21 21-19 17-21 after a 52-minute battle.
The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam also lost their first-round match while playing against the fifth-seed Japanese pair of Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara. The Indian pair lost the match in straight games of 21-11, 21-14.
Sindhu to face Phittayaporn Chaiwan in pre-quarters
Having defeated Pornpawee Chochuwong in her first-round match, former World Champion Sindhu will now face Phittayaporn Chaiwan, a 21-year-old from Thailand who held the number one ranking in the world junior ranking and also was part of the bronze medal-winning team at the Uber Cup in Bangkok. Chaiwan defeated Indonesia’s Fitriani Fitriani 21-18, 21-15 in her first-round match.
Meanwhile, P Kashyap will face Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who had won the German Open Super 300 in March. Another competitor in Men’s Singles for India will be HS Prannoy who will face fourth-seed Taiwanese shuttler, Chou Tien Chen, in the pre-quarterfinals. The Men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chiraag Shetty will also be in action on Thursday. They will face the Malaysian pair of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin.